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Military Professions

For decades, RAND has conducted extensive research to help U.S. and allied decisionmakers design training and career development programs that will attract and retain military professionals capable of meeting a nation's national security and defense goals.

This Perspective offers recommendations on how the relationship between the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force, Manpower and Reserve Affairs and the Air Force Deputy Chief of Staff for Manpower, Personnel, and Services might be further refined.

History records the names of generals, not of the privates filling out supply forms, cleaning out trucks, or huffing through another training exercise. But those privates keep the U.S. Army running. RAND research provides their unfiltered take on life in the ranks.

This report examines what the career of a "typical" Army civilian looks like. It identifies seven common career patterns among individuals who entered the Army civilian workforce between 1981 and 2000 as General Schedule employees.

The authors developed and employed a methodology to review general and flag officer requirements in the U.S. military, used results to identify opportunities to eliminate or downgrade positions, and explored the implications of reductions.

The primary mission of U.S. Army noncommissioned officers is to lead and mentor soldiers. But research has placed little emphasis on how to value their experience. Knowing how NCOs influence soldiers can help the Army maintain or improve leadership quality and soldier performance and reduce personnel costs.

The authors examine whether a Total Force (rather than component-specific) service commitment with increased service commitment lengths could reduce or eliminate projected pilot shortages in the Air Force.

This report presents information on recent participants of the National Guard Youth ChalleNGe, a quasi-military program for young people lacking a high school diploma. It also documents program progress in academics, fitness, and other areas.

This report documents analyses of two ways to supplement the traditional Air Force pilot career path to enhance force sustainment: a warrant officer component to fill pilot requirements or an aviation technical track for commissioned officers.

To reinvigorate graduate-level professional military education, the military could carve out a unique educational niche by focusing on intense, quality staff officer education that is more relevant to understanding the demands placed on top defense leaders.

This report addresses challenges for implementing new approaches to Air Force high-demand, high-attrition specialty recruiting, screening, and development processes, and takes a holistic approach to identifying methods to fill gaps in processes.

The U.S. Army wants to improve its understanding of soldiers' motivations to enlist, and how the reality of Army life matches up with expectations. Interviews with soldiers ranked E-1 to E-4 offer a rich portrayal of life as a private.

This study informs the development of career models for the Department of Defense security cooperation workforce. It assesses potential requirements for competencies and experience and identifies potential job families within the workforce.

The personnel who operate remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) are crucial in the Air Force, but many in the RPA career field are dissatisfied, and it is difficult to train and retain enough pilots to meet the demand. To assist in building a healthy, sustainable RPA career field, RAND has developed a long-term RPA career field planning model.

In reviewing a book his mentor wrote about coming of age in Vietnam, Dan Grunfeld says the story is "powerful, thoughtful and engaging. ... The hard and expensive lessons of Walker's youth led to a big-hearted life, full of wisdom and generosity that touched so many."

Using data from the USAF 2015 Active Duty Career Decisions Survey, this dissertation employs a range of qualitative data analysis techniques to examine the open-ended response questions related to a pilot's decision to remain or depart the service.

National Guard Youth ChalleNGe is a residential, quasi-military program for young people at risk of dropping out of high school. This report provides information on recent ChalleNGe participants and develops metrics of program success.

This report reviews the implementation of the Army's Total Force Policy. The Army has made progress in integrating the Regular Army, Army National Guard, and U.S. Army Reserve, but budget constraints have limited implementation.

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Associate Director of the RAND Arroyo Center's Personnel, Training, and Health Program

Chaitra M. Hardison is a senior behavioral scientist at the RAND Corporation, associate director of the RAND Arroyo Center's Personnel, Training, and Health Program, and a professor at the Pardee RAND Graduate School. Her research focuses on the knowledge, skills, and abilities…

Senior International/Defense Researcher

Henry "Chip" Leonard is a senior international/defense researcher at the RAND Corporation who served for more than 27 years as an Army officer; half of that time was with tactical units, including seven years of direct command experience. In addition, he served in key operational staff positions…

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